Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni RPG

Locations:

Hinamizawa is located in the Shishibone City, adjacent to Gifu Prefecture where its inspiration exists. The village is carrying the unusual disease called the Hinamizawa Syndrome. Hinamizawa was originally called "Onigafuchi" until the Meiji era. The Onigafuchi Swamp retains the name which translates to "abyss of demons." Oyashiro-sama's curse is an old superstition believed by many of the villagers in which those who anger the local god Oyashiro-sama will be cursed. Those cursed either die or disappear. One way to be cursed appears to be to leave the village; another appears to be an outsider who moves into the village. But there is no actually a curse; it was invented long ago to discourage people from leaving the village and triggering the symptoms of Hinamizawa syndrome and for people to enter it and contract and, potentially, spread it if they leave. It is a rural village with a population ranging from approximately 1200 people to 2000. Hinamizawa village, officially recognized as the Hinamizawa district of Shishibone City. Initially, the village was an isolated and independent settlement but was later included as a part of Shishibone City administratively. Hinamizawa is distant from urban settlements. It is located in a valley formed by a stream originating from a swamp called Onigabuchi in an inland area near the Sea of ​​Japan. Villages are scattered at the bottom of the valley, and the surrounding area is shrouded by deep forests, blessed with abundant nature. There are areas such as Takatsudo and Yagouchi in the mountains further away from the main Hinamizawa area, but there are few houses and some of these settlements are considered ghost towns. Hinamizawa itself mostly consists of old, rural houses along with some newer buildings such as the Irie Clinic. Due to its location, Hinamizawa gets heavy snowfall in the winter and as a consequence, many characteristically thick thatched roofed gasshō-zukuri houses can be seen. The Okinomiya district is located down a steep slope from the Hinamizawa district, and the purchase of daily necessities is mainly carried out there. Hinamizawa itself doesn't boast many modern amenities such as restaurants, fast food outlets, vending machines, entertainment facilities, etc. There are notable locations: Dam Construction Site; Furude Shrine; Hinamizawa Branch School; Irie Clinic:

The dam site was where construction for the dam project was to be held, but villagers dumped junk there in defiance of it. Rena often comes here for treasure hunting and even has a small sanctuary set up for herself.

The Furude Shrine is where the Watanagashi Festival is held every year and where The Three Families hold their village meetings. Rika Furude and Satoko Houjou also live there. The Furude Shrine is situated on a hill with a large stone staircase leading up to it, and at certain places in the shrine one can get a good view of the entire Hinamizawa village. Behind the grounds is a ritual storehouse where many tools used for the Watanagashi are stored. Far beyond the shrine is a rope bridge that leads into a forest. There is also an assembly hall used mostly for village meetings and at other times karaoke and calligraphy practice. Behind the assembly hall is a two-story shack: the first story contains a disaster prevention storehouse while the second story is where Rika and Satoko live together. The Furude Shrine was maintained by the Furude family, as they acted as messengers for the god Oyashiro-sama. For years the shrine was the site for the Watanagashi, a ritual devoted to Oyashiro-sama's worship which was rumored to involve humans being dissected, tortured and finally consumed by the half-demon villagers. In the modern era, the Watanagashi has become a fun festival, with food stalls and games being set up on the shrine grounds. During the dam conflict, the shrine's assembly hall was used as a base for the Onigafuchi Guardians to meet up, as they believed that being in the presence of their guardian deity would reinforce their opposition to the dam project. The ritual storehouse is where the Furude family stores ancient scrolls and many tools and implements used for the Watanagashi. The storehouse has two sets of doors so that people cannot see into the storehouse when the first one is opened. Many of the tools stored inside are cruel instruments of torture, a remnant of Hinamizawa's gory past. There is also a statue of Oyashiro-sama inside the storehouse, which had its arm broken off when Satoko accidentally fell into the storehouse from the roof at a younger age. Only certain members of the Three Families are allowed to enter the storehouse, and even then only the head of the Furude family is allowed to read the scrolls that tell of Oyashiro-sama's past.

The school is not a formal school and is located in a building rented from the Hinamizawa Forestry Service. As such, there is construction machinery parked nearby. The entire class totals about 30 students from grades elementary to middle school. A garden is located in the back where the teacher Chie grows ingredients for curry. There used to be a larger, proper school in Hinamizawa that became dilapidated and was closed down during the dam conflict, being merged with the one in Okinomiya. Because of how far the other school was, the Onigafuchi Guardians rented a building from the forestry service to use as a schoolhouse which became opposed by the government. Rumiko Chie was a teacher for the other school and came to teach in the new school despite warnings from the Board of Education and was even suspended for it. After the end of the dam conflict, the Onigafuchi Guardians and the Three Families negotiated with the government again and allowed the school to begin proper operation. The principal of the old Hinamizawa school would also become the principal of the new school.

The Irie Clinic is a doctor's office in Hinamizawa. Kyousuke Irie is director and proprietor of the clinic while Miyo Takano is employed as a nurse. The Irie Clinic is a fairly large clinic with up-to-date facilities, contrasting with the many rural houses Hinamizawa has. The clinic is large enough that it can accommodate a parking lot and space for buses. The Irie Clinic was built in Hinamizawa sometime before the dam project ended. While the villagers were initially skeptical of the clinic due to it being staffed by outsiders, they've since warmed up to Irie and Takano. Satoko is a frequent patient at the clinic. In Matsuribayashi, it is revealed that the clinic is also known as the Irie Institute and was funded by the organization "Tokyo" for the purposes of researching Hinamizawa Syndrome, a parasitic virus native to Hinamizawa. Satoko is a frequent patient due to her being a terminal patient of the syndrome who has also managed to escape the terminal stages and unknowingly provides the clinic with lots of data. The Irie Clinic with the help of the Mountain Dogs has also propagated Oyashiro-sama's curse as a cover-up for the disappearances of various people in their research into Hinamizawa Syndrome; the dam construction foreman's murderer and Rika's mother were dissected by them as the former was a terminal patient and the latter was the previous queen carrier for the Hinamizawa Syndrome parasites. Satoshi Houjou was also a terminal patient and instead of being dissected was placed in intensive care. It has main building itself, where the normal clinic is, and underground part, where all illegal and secret research is carried out and where Satoshi is being held.

Shishibone City is a city where Hinamizawa and Okinomiya exist under its jurisdiction. The Sonozaki family has much influence in the area with their yakuza connections.

Okinomiya is a town, where Mion and Shion's parents live there, and it is where the Okinomiya Police Department is located, whose authority extends to Hinamizawa. Compared to Hinamizawa, Okinomiya has many more modern facilities and businesses. It contains a toy store, the restaurant Angel Mort, a library, and an apartment complex where Shion lives alone. The apartment complex she lives in is also owned by the Sonozaki family, so many of the tenants are shady people connected to them in some way or another.

Angel Mort is a family restaurant and it is where Shion Sonozaki works at part-time. Angel Mort originated in Okinomiya and soon became a restaurant chain with branches in Tokyo and Kakiuchi City. The main branch in Okinomiya is owned and managed Mion's uncle Yoshiroh. Despite being a "family restaurant", Angel Mort is actually aimed towards an otaku clientele, evidenced by the revealing outfits worn by waitresses and the veritable merchandise scene for Angel Mort figurines. Some customers are especially perverted and will purposely trip waitresses to make a mess and make them clean up, bordering on sexual harassment. The otaku crowd comes in full force whenever a Dessert Fiesta is held: an all-you-can-eat dessert event that requires special tickets to attend. Ticket scalping is thus a common occurrence.

The Sonozaki Main House is an estate in Hinamizawa that serves as the primary residence for the Sonozaki family. Oryou Sonozaki and her granddaughter Mion Sonozaki live there. The main house is said to be very big, with enough space to fit a mountain in its backyard. The place is surrounded by forests and high barbed-wire fences. A camera security system watches over the area, and venomous snakes infest the grounds. Deep in the forest is an underground torture chamber. It contains ritual tools used for the Watanagashi Festival, some prison cells, and a deep well that leads outside to a mountain. The torture chamber was built by the Sonozaki family to continue carrying out the Watanagashi ritual in secret, as the changing times meant human sacrifices were becoming taboo. The well has been used to cover up people's disappearances for years, judging by the decades-old bones discovered there.

Main characters:

Keiichi Maebara. Keiichi has short brown hair and purple eyes. His school uniform consists of a white shirt with black pants. His casual outfit is a red vest over a black shirt and green pants. Keiichi's defining trait is his hotheadedness. During club games, he has a great determination and a competitive streak to win at any cost and will often use tactics like bribery, appealing to potential allies' desires; Despite his hot-blooded attitude which pops up occasionally, Keiichi enjoys playing with his friends, but in the beginning he was distrustful and afraid of them due to poor communication especially when it concerned the topic of Hinamizawa itself. Keiichi develops a strong bond with his friends over time, and does whatever he can to get them out of trouble. Keiichi's looking out for his friends sometimes lands him in more trouble however. While he's a genuinely good and kind-hearted person who always cares for his friends, there are times he can come across as socially awkward and inept to the point he has an inability to discover subtle cues in anyone unintentionally hurting their feelings. Keiichi's nickname of "Magician of Words" comes from his ability to talk to people and convince them to join his side. He uses this skill during club games with his aforementioned bribery, but he also proves he can get to the heart of his friends' issues and set them on the right path. Keiichi's gift of communication even allows him to rally people together. Keiichi shows a perverted side when it comes to deciding punishment games, often going with lewd or inappropriate options. Keiichi used to live in another town where he got good grades but was bullied. His parents bought a lot in Hinamizawa and built a house on it, soon moving. At his old school, Keiichi grew bored of getting good grades and bought a BB gun, entertaining himself by shooting at younger kids as they were walking home. Nobody knew Keiichi was doing this until one day where he shot a girl in the eye and got her sent to the hospital. The girl didn't receive any lasting damage, but Keiichi felt incredibly guilty and confessed to his parents what he'd done. His parents determined that they were also at fault for not realizing Keiichi's unhappiness and struggles, and so they moved to Hinamizawa to help Keiichi get a fresh start. Keiichi and Rena are friends and always walk to school together, as Rena makes a point of picking him up every morning. Keiichi and Mion are good friends and walk together to school, too, although Mion meets up with Keiichi and Rena further on their way. Satoko sees Keiichi as a surrogate older brother and develops a strong bond with him. Keiichi appreciates Rika's kindness, and Rika seems to respect him. Keiichi and Ooishi are allies, seemingly due to Keiichi being an outsider and therefore outside the loop of the mysterious incidents that occur in Hinamizawa annually.

Rena Ryuugu has short orange hair in an asymmetrical bob with longer locks in the front and spiky bangs. She has light blue eyes. Her school uniform consists of a sailor uniform with a white blouse and blue collar and a matching pleated skirt. She wears it with a yellow scarf, white socks and dark shoes. Her casual outfit is a white A-line midi dress with a turtle neck, puffed sleeves and a long slit down the center. The dress is adorned with purple bows, one at her collar and a larger one at the back. She pairs it with a white beret, black thigh highs and long brown lace boots. On the outside, Rena Ryuugu is a friendly, earnest, and caring young girl, if a little strange and goofy. She has a habit of saying "hau" and "kana, kana?" which in the latter's case is meaning her repeating the last words that she said. Whenever Rena sees something "kyute", she'll enter "Kyute Mode" and often loudly exclaim that she'll take them home (Omochikaeri), whether they are objects or people. Rena loves cooking and often makes many delicious meals for her friends. Rena owns a pet hamster. Despite her silliness, Rena sometimes shows great intuition and responsibility, displaying a terrifyingly perceptive side of herself that can read people and situations to their very core at a glance. Rena is also aware of how often she goes into Kyute Mode and will use this to her advantage at times. Rena shows hints of depression and sadness, given the circumstances surrounding her parents divorce. Sometimes she will say her own catchphrases to herself to cheer herself up. Rena also has a secret base in the junkyard formed out of a wrecked van that she will go to for peace and quiet. Rena feels a strong attachment to the junk she brings home, thinking of them as abandoned and needing a place to live. Whenever Oyashiro-sama is mentioned, Rena's personality changes such that she insists that he is real and becomes fiercely defensive. She truly believes in the god's existence and is thankful to him for many things. Rena also has an intense hatred for lies, often lashing out violently when being lied to. Rena originally was called Reina Ryuugu, being born and raised in Hinamizawa. Her family lived in her grandmother's house for a few years and moved to Ibaraki for her mother's work. Reina started learning how to cook to help her father, and her mother regularly took her out to eat at fancy restaurants and parties. Reina and her mother also always hung out with a man Reina called "Uncle Akihito". One day, Reina's mother told her that she was planning on divorcing her father and marrying Akihito. The young Reina opposed it, but her mother said she was already pregnant. When her parents divorced, Reina's father received a lot of settlement money. Reina wanted nothing to do with her mother or Akihito and started throwing out everything related to her like pictures and furniture. Reina also started to hate her own name. Reina's mental state deteriorated because of the divorce, to the point where she went on a rampage destroying windows in her school and attacked three students, permanently blinding one of them in one eye. Despite this, the victims nor the school took legal action against Reina. Reina was submitted for psychiatric evaluation. She claimed to hear Oyashiro-sama telling her to return to Hinamizawa, believing she was cursed for leaving the village in the first place. During her stay in Ibaraki, Rena started to experience the sensation of maggots crawling around in her skin and resorted to self-harm, thinking she was getting rid of them. The reason to this was that Rena developed terminal symptoms of Hinamizawa Syndrome because of her stress. Hanyuu briefly intervened and was able to cure her symptoms temporarily, giving her the message to return to Hinamizawa. Her father agreed with her daughter's request and moved with her back to Hinamizawa. Reina's mental state improved, and she started calling herself "Rena" since wanted to remove the "i" from it, the "icky" things from her life. Rena then became a member of the Hinamizawa after-school games club. Mion is friends with Rena as leader of the club. Sometimes Mion will get rough with Rena when she goes on tangents about Oyashiro-sama.

Mion Sonozaki is the president of the Hinamizawa after-school games club, Shion Sonozaki's twin sister, as well as the current heir to the Sonozaki family. Mion is a tall teenage girl with teal eyes. Her hair is long and light-green in color, with bangs parted at the center of her face. While she normally ties her hair in a ponytail, she can also let it down on occasion, allowing her to pass as her twin sister Shion. She also has a tattoo of a demon on her back. Mion's school uniform outfit consists of a white short-sleeved shirt with pink stripes on her collar and the ends of her sleeves, as well as a long pink pleated skirt. Her shirt is covered by a yellow vest and the uniform is completed with a red tie. Mion's casual outfit consists of a yellow t-shirt with a black turtleneck and blue jeans, along with a white sweater tied around her waist. Mion has a confident and outgoing personality, allowing her to naturally fulfill her roles as class representative and leader of the club. She is a sociable person who is well liked and respected by other students at the school, as well as the villagers of Hinamizawa in general. Mion is an avid collector of board and card games, and bases her school club around them. She is fiercely competitive during these club activities and revels in taunting her opponents when she is winning. The rules of their club permit members to use underhanded methods to gain victory, and Mion takes full advantage of this rule both by directly cheating as well as preparing resources beforehand. While she has a competitive streak during games, this has very little transference to her day-to-day life, where she tends to take a more laid back approach to issues such as studying. Mion has a tendency to make dirty jokes, particulary with friends, regularly engage in crude banter with her friends. This trait of Mion extends to her choice of penalty games for the club activities, which regularly involve getting other members to wear various fetish outfits that she has amassed in her club locker along with her games. Keiichi describes Mion as "acting like an old man sometimes", and she also frequently uses that phrase in referring to herself as "this old man". Despite Mion's tomboyish disposition, she also has a more feminine side. Mion is "on the fence as to whether she wants to be a boy or a girl". Mion gets easily flustered when it comes to issues around her romantic interest, a stark departure from how she usually acts. Unlike Shion, she is bad at lying about her feelings. Mion cares deeply for her friends and has a strong sense of justice. She challenged and interrogated her grandmother due to her belief in the injustice of Satoshi's disappearance. Her more mature outlook leads her to take practical considerations into account, which helps her to avoid making rash decisions but can also lead to her feeling helpless to challenge existing systems. Mion is more stable than the other club members, and as such has never herself succumbed to Hinamizawa Syndrome. While Mion is acting in her capacity as successor to the Sonozaki family, she takes on a more authoritative disposition and can put aside her personal feelings in order to coldly carry out her duties. Though, she only takes this role, when she deals with some official personas, or during official meetings. With friends, she usually acts casually. This is traditionally believed to be the result of a "demon" living in each Sonozaki successor. Like, when she has Shion tear of three of her fingernails as punishment for her escape from St. Lucia Academy and support of Satoshi. While she puts on this front publicly, she also feels a great amount of guilt at the family's unequal treatment of Shion and privately chooses to undergo the same punishment as her. Mion and Shion were born as twins to Akane Sonozaki and her husband. According to the family traditions, one of the two twins was supposed to be strangled at birth in order to prevent disputes over the succession, but while their grandmother Oryou was rumored to have tried to do so, she for an unknown reason did not carry it out. As such, the two twins grew up together and frequently swapped places, delighting in the inability of adults to tell them apart. It is revealed that Mion was born under the name "Shion Sonozaki", but had swapped places with her sister on the day that the heir was to be given the demon tattoo, and as such permanently assumed the role of "Mion Sonozaki". She denied knowing about the tattoo arrangement beforehand. Mion was raised from childhood by Oryou as the successor to the Sonozaki family. While the succession would normally go to her mother Akane, she was disqualified from the role due to a disagreement with Oryou over her marriage to a yakuza member. As such, she would sit alongside Oryou in village council meetings as a child in order to learn her future role, as would sometimes even address the council in her official authority herself. Despite being a child at the time, Mion was an active member of the Onigafuchi Guardians, which led the protests against the Hinamizawa Dam Project. She would frequently get involved in violent altercations with the dam construction workers, to the point of throwing bricks at people. As such, she often found herself in trouble with the police. Mion formed the after-school games club in an attempt to reduce the time Satoko and Satoshi had to spend around their abusive aunt. She used to be really bad at the games and would frequently have to take the penalties herself, but over time started to engage in dirtier strategies to secure her victories. Now, Mion is the oldest student at the Hinamizawa school, and thus serves as the class representative. She also helps out at her uncles' stores on an irregular basis depending on their need for manpower. As heir to the Sonozaki family, Mion has a sizable personal allowance and access to a large amount of resources and information. She however is limited by her position and the Sonozaki family's history, and thus cannot use this for personal goals that run contrary to the family's reputation. Mion also has the authority to speak in Oryou's place at village council meetings. Rika loves playing club games with Mion. Rika is especially fond of Mion because over the many worlds, Mion rarely repeats the same club activities. At first, Satoko seemed to be uncomfortable with Mion at school because of the Sonozaki family being responsible for the Houjou's ostracizing. After the formation of the games club, Satoko and Mion form a good friendship. Mion is Shion's older twin sister. Although Mion is the successor to the family, she still cares for Shion and was happy to communicate with her when the latter escaped from St. Lucia. Oryou has revealed many secrets to Mion, such as that the Sonozakis are not actually behind the curse and that Oryou wanted to forgive the Houjous but was unable to because of her reputation. Shion is one of the few people who Mion confides personal issues to. Mion and Ooishi have an uneasy relationship due to Ooishi suspecting the Sonozakis of being behind every incident in the village.

Satoko Houjou is a master at setting traps. Satoko Houjou appears as an athletic pre-pubescent girl, with spiky blonde hair worn in a short bob held back with her signature black headband. Her eye-color is dark magenta. She often sports a merry or mischievous expression and her pointy canine teeth can be seen accentuating her smug grins and hearty laughs. When Satoko feels rather disturbed or upset, the light in her eyes disappears and her face turns uncharacteristically glum; which was a common sight in her younger years back when she underwent frequent abuse from her legal guardians. Her uniform at school, she dons a light green one-piece sailor dress with a white collar and yellow scarf, complete with black tights and brown leather shoes with bows as her uniform. Her casual wear consists of a sleeveless carnation pink button down shirt, folded hem denim shorts, a white belt, purple and white sneakers and white socks. Satoko Houjou is a mischievous, haughty brat true to her age and loves to play pranks on others using her traps; with Keiichi Maebara being her favorite victim. She is often obstinate and hates being talked down to. She tries to speak like a refined lady, yet this comes off as brash and haphazard, due to her poor usage of Keigo. At times, Satoko will cry whenever someone makes fun of her; although this can be a tactical way to earn others' sympathy—Rena Ryuugu's in particular. Satoko is rather smart despite her dislike towards academics and her capabilities are apparent in her trap-making prowess, which is held in high regard by Mion Sonozaki. Satoko think that success in trap-making heavily depends one's ability to observe and predict the opponent's behavior by gauging their psychology. She is rather crafty and prefers to rely on trickery to excel in club games and hence, makes a great strategist. Satoko is implied to be color-blind like her brother since she has trouble telling the difference between broccoli and cauliflower and doesn't know which colors they are. She is often made fun of for this. Deep down, Satoko longs to be a strong girl because of her old family situation. She used to cry all the time back when her brother was still with her, and ever since his disappearance she has struggled to improve herself. She has learned to cook, clean and take care of herself ever since she was orphaned and began to live alone with Rika. However she takes this need for independence too far and refuses to ask for help from others or show signs of weakness even in dire situations. Satoko also cares a great deal for her friends—especially Rika Furude, Keiichi and Shion Sonozaki, the latter two whom she considers as big-brother and big-sister figures. Satoko and Satoshi Houjou's mother was always getting divorced and remarried; Satoko never liked any of her stepfathers and conflated the different things they did, thinking they were always abusing her. This reached a point where, she called child protective services and faked a child abuse call after an argument with her stepfather Mr. Houjou, even self-inflicting wounds. Mr. Houjou cleared things up with the social worker that came by and accepted that he may have went too far and resolved to improve their relationship. During the Hinamizawa Dam Project, her parents supported the plan and led a group of dam supporters, which earned the ire of the other Hinamizawa villagers. The Three Families declared the Houjous enemies of the village, and they were harassed greatly. Even Satoko and Satoshi faced harassment despite not being involved with the dam project in any way. At another point in time, Satoko climbed onto the ritual warehouse at the Furude Shrine and fell inside, damaging the statue of Oyashiro-sama inside. Rika took the blame for it, and Satoko's felt like she was cursed ever since. Three years ago, around the time of the Watanagashi Festival, Satoko went on vacation with her parents to a park in Shirakawa and watched them die when they fell off of a cliff. Because Satoko's parents died on the day of the Watanagashi Festival and the mother's body was never found, the villagers believed that Oyashiro-sama's curse struck. Despite this, the mistreatment of the Houjou family by the village continued. Satoko and Satoshi were taken to live with their uncle Teppei and his wife and were abused both physically and verbally, having their meals taken away at times. Satoshi did his best to protect Satoko from abuse and acted as a shield for her. Mion formed the after-school games club, year ago in an attempt to reduce the time Satoko and Satoshi had to spend at home. They also called child protective services to save the Houjou siblings, but they were very wary because of the prior fake abuse call. The center believed nothing was wrong after some investigation; there was no evidence the kids were being abused since Teppei never left any bruises on them, nor was there any recordings or eyewitness reports. By Japanese law, the situation also couldn't be called abuse unless someone admitted to it. After this call, the abuse intensified. Later that year, their aunt was found murdered while Satoshi disappeared, believed to have been the victims for the fourth year of the curse. Teppei abandoned Hinamizawa, fearing for his life. Satoko moved in with Rika at the Furude Shrine to live with her in a former disaster shelter on the Furude Shrine grounds, allowed to stay there on Rika's request. Satoko blamed herself for Satoshi's disappearance and believed he ran away because of her always clinging to him. Ever since, Satoko improved herself and wanted to be stronger and ready for when Satoshi came home. Satoko depended on Satoshi for a long time. Satoshi was said to be unreliable, and Satoko nagged him a lot. Satoshi cares about Satoko a lot and even sacrifices his free time to help her. Satoshi's disappearance encourages Satoko to become a stronger person, however she goes about this the wrong way and thinks that withstanding problems is what will improve things. Satoko sees Keiichi as a surrogate older brother and develops a strong bond with him. Satoko and Rika weren't good friends at first, with Rika always trying to treat Satoko nicely despite the latter finding her annoying. Satoko is ignored by the villagers while Rika is beloved by everyone, and she'll often get people to help Satoko indirectly by helping her out herself. After Satoshi's disappearance and Teppei's abandonment, Satoko begins living with Rika, and she starts to see her as her best friend. Satoko is sometimes hurt that Rika will do things without telling her. At first, Satoko seemed to be uncomfortable with Mion at school because of the Sonozaki family being responsible for the Houjou's ostracizing. After the formation of the games club, Satoko and Mion form a good friendship. Shion dislikes Satoko at first, believing she's been keeping Satoshi to herself during their time with their aunt and uncle. When Satoshi made a parting request to Shion to take care of Satoko before his disappearance, Shion starts acting like a surrogate older sister as Satoko's "Nee-nee". Shion is dangerously protective of Satoko. Satoko is sometimes a target for Rena's kyute mode. Satoko will use this to her advantage during club games and leap into Rena's arms when cornered, prompting her to punish the other club members. Similar to Shion, Rena can be very protective of Satoko. Takano works at the Irie Clinic and regularly meets Satoko. She's one of the few adults who regularly speaks to Satoko and shares a love of stuffed animals.

Rika Furude is a shrine maiden who works at the Furude Shrine. Rika Furude appears as a pre-pubescent girl with violet eyes. She has straight long hair down to her waist and patsun bangs. Her hair color is indigo. She carries herself with grace, bearing a calm and gentle disposition exuding innocence—defined by her tareme eye shape. Often, she will sport a bright smile, accentuating it with a "Nipah". Rika distinctly resembles her deceased mother—particularly her eyes and her hair. At times, she catches people off guard when her face takes on a rather apathetic and condescending expression along with a deeper voice—all of which make her seem uncharacteristically mature far beyond her years that people begin to doubt whether she is the Rika they know. When she becomes like this in, her irises assume a red-blazing tone. Rika's school uniform comprises of a white short-sleeved button-down blouse with a pink bow at her collar and a dark-grey pleated skirt with suspenders, along with frilly white knee-length socks with small red bows at its hems and matching dark-red Mary-Jane shoes. Outside school, she usually wears a light green knee length dress with spaghetti strap sleeves and a white ribbon holding the small slit at her neckline closed—along with matching white block-heeled mule sandals. During the Watanagashi Festival, Rika dons a traditional miko outfit comprising of a bright red hakama and a pure white kosode, sometimes with a matching red false layer. She leaves her hair loose for the entirety of the festival, but for the ritual performance, she wears a traditional headpiece along with a Danshi ribbon in a Takenaga hairstyle tied back with a Mizuhiki cord. This is more appropriate as miko are always expected to have their hair tied back neatly. As expected of a girl her age, Rika Furude has a cutesy and childlike personality. She likes to pat people on their head when they're feeling down and often says things like "Nipah" and "Mii". Rika often uses her cuteness to her advantage, manipulating classmates to gain easy wins in club games. She also has a habit of making cat sounds. Rika has a habit of saying "nanodesu", at the end of many of her sentences. A younger Rika was being very distant and bored during recess and school. Rika's apparent disinterest in her mother caused her to hit Rika on the head at times. Rika dedicates a lot of time to practicing the Watanagashi ritual dance, even though it's physically taxing on her. When by herself or with Hanyuu, Rika completely drops her cutesy and child-like personality and displays a much more cynical, mature, apathetic, serious and occasionally hostile personality, developed as a result of her 100 years of traveling through the Sea of Fragments. This serious, or "Dark" Rika can be considered Rika's true personality as her cutesy personality is merely a facade she puts up when with others. She tends to be abrasive and insulting towards Hanyuu and to others she has shown her true nature to. Over the years, Rika began treating Hanyuu more rudely. Because of their linked senses, Rika sometimes bullies Hanyuu by eaing spicy food and drinking wine. Mature Rika at times feels like she's disassociating from the innocent Rika. The Furude Family has long served as priests and shrine maidens for Hinamizawa's god Oyashiro-sama. Female family members were subject to much honor by villagers. It was believed that if firstborn daughters were born to the Furude Family for eight generations in a row, then that eighth generation would be Oyashiro-sama's reincarnation. Rika Furude was that eighth generation, becoming greatly beloved by the villagers as Oyashiro-sama's reincarnation and messenger. The villagers' praise of Rika was to a point where at a young age, she was allowed to take candy from a store without paying for it. In the third year of Oyashiro-sama's curse, Rika's parents were the victims, with her father dying of an unknown illness and her mother drowning herself in the Onigafuchi Swamp to placate Oyashiro-sama. Rika became the only known living member of the Furude Family. The mayor of Hinamizawa legally adopted Rika and serves as her guardian, however Rika lives alone in a disaster relief shelter near the shrine. After the fourth year of the curse, where Satoko's aunt died and brother disappeared, Satoko began living with Rika. Rika's status as the eighth generation allows her to interact with Hanyuu, the true form of Oyashiro-sama. Hanyuu acted as a mother figure to Rika ever since she was born and taught her skills such as cooking. It is also revealed that Rika is believed to be the queen carrier for the Hinamizawa Syndrome disease that is endemic to Hinamizawa and willingly does research with the Irie Clinic to find a cure. If Rika were to die, then every villager infected with the syndrome would exhibit terminal symptoms and cause chaos within 48 hours. Unbeknownst to Rika, Miyo Takano plans to kill her and make this chaos a reality, enacting the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. Takano is responsible for many of Rika's deaths in various worlds. With Hanyuu's power, Rika travels to new Fragments, or timelines, every time she dies to try and prevent her own death and earn a happy ending. Rika and Satoko are longtime friends, living together after Satoshi's disappearance. Satoko understands Rika more than anyone else thanks to the interaction between the two, although she has difficulty understanding certain things, especially in when Rika seemingly speaks to herself late at night. Both are very concerned about each other's well-being. Due to the contempt for the Houjou couple due to their support for the dam project in Hinamizawa, Satoko suffers from strong ostracism from the village, which Rika tries to mitigate by staying by her side. Despite this, Rika is aware of how much Satoko depended on Satoshi and believes it is one thing she cannot fix herself. Rika is one of the few people besides Kyousuke Irie and Miyo Takano who knew that Satoko needed regular injections so that she doesn't succumb to Hinamizawa Syndrome; everyone else, including Satoko, is believing that she is taking experimental remedies. Rika has been cooperating with them exclusively to help Satoko recover. Keiichi appreciates Rika's kindness, and Rika seems to respect him. Rika is sometimes a target for Rena's affections when she enters kyute mode. Rika loves playing club games with Mion. Rika is especially fond of Mion because over the many worlds, Mion rarely repeats the same club activities. Rika has been attached to Akasaka ever since they met, five years ago. Rika seems to act cold towards Akasaka by warning him to go back to Tokyo and then seemingly stalking him while cutting the lies of every phone he goes to, however she had well-meaning intentions in wanting to save his wife from death. Rika greatly values Akasaka as an ally since he's one of the few people who knew of Rika's premonitions of the future.

Shion Sonozaki is Mion Sonozaki's twin sister who works at Angel Mort as a waitress. Like her twin sister, Shion is a tall teenage girl with teal eyes and long light-green hair, however Shion keeps her hair tied back in a longer ponytail with a yellow bow. Her casual clothes consist of a white sleeveless sweater and black skirt. During work at Angel Mort, Shion wears the traditional waitress uniform. Shion's school uniform is her St. Lucia uniform. It is a completely white button-up shirt. Shion is much more feminine when compared to Mion. Despite often acting more elegant and refined, Shion is also more aggressive, shrewd, manipulative, and cold when compared to the tomboy of her twin sister. She is impulsive and will jump to take action or defend others if nobody is there to reign her in. Shion hates canned food because of horror stories she was told as a child about human meat being inside them. Mion and Shion were born as twins to Akane Sonozaki and her husband. According to the Sonozaki family traditions, one of the two twins was supposed to be strangled at birth in order to prevent disputes over the succession, but while their grandmother Oryou was rumored to have tried to do so, she for an unknown reason did not carry it out. As such, the two twins grew up together and frequently swapped places, delighting in the inability of adults to tell them apart. Shion took part in the dam war and was especially rough towards the dam construction manager. Shion was actually born the older sister. On the day Mion was supposed to get her demon tattoo signifying her status as the family successor, the twins switched. Thus, the younger sister received the tattoo and was forced to become Mion while the older sister started to live as Shion. As the younger twin, Shion was unfit to be the family head and was eventually sent to the boarding school St. Lucia, remaining there for years before getting tired of it and escaping year ago to live in Okinomiya. Although Shion's escape was soon discovered by the family, they allowed her to remain in Okinomiya so long as she kept out of sight. Shion cooperated with Mion to take her place in public sometimes for jobs and eventually met Satoshi Houjou and fell in love with him. She became the "ghost manager" for Satoshi's baseball team,the Hinamizawa Fighters. After the last year's Watanagashi Festival, when Satoshi's abusive aunt was found murdered, Shion outed herself as Mion's twin to provide an alibi for Satoshi and was summarily punished by the Sonozakis by having some of her fingernails removed. Shion was formally withdrawn from St. Lucia and transferred to a school in Okinomiya, occasionally going into Hinamizawa for personal reasons. Mion and Shion have a close sisterly relationship, with Shion often referring to her as "Sis". There is a divide between them due to Mion's status as the successor, with the sisters sometimes wondering if they could instead be one person or equals. Shion doesn't mind having a sister however, and would say that she would like them to reborn as twins in the next world. Shion loved Satoshi and devoted a lot of her time to helping him through teaching him how to shop effectively and supporting him in his baseball games. Shion seems to have a single-minded affection towards Satoshi however, blaming Satoko as the reason for his suffering at one point and attacking Mion under the belief that the Sonozakis demoned him away at another. She still hides the pain of Satoshi's disappearence and hopes to find him one day. Now, Shion goes to Hinamizawa frequently, visiting Satoko and feeding her pumpkin's she doesn't like, since "they have a lot of vitamins." and feeds other food to her. Shion dislikes Satoko at first, believing she's been keeping Satoshi to herself during their time with their aunt and uncle. When Satoshi made a parting request to Shion to take care of Satoko before his disappearance, Shion starts acting like a surrogate older sister as Satoko's "Nee-nee". Shion is dangerously protective of Satoko. Kasai has acted as a guardian for Shion sometimes ever since she was a child and serves her as a chauffeur and bodyguard. He provides her with a stun gun. Kasai's told her many horror stories about canned food having human flesh in them, leading to Shion developing a strong hatred for it. When Shion escapes from St. Lucia, Kasai helps her hide out and gets food for her. Even after Shion's punishment, Kasai continues to act as her guardian and gives her advice at times.

Hanyuu has purple eyes, long light purple hair and has a pair of dark purple horns sprouting from her head, with one of them having a crack in it. Physically, Hanyuu looks the same age as Rika. Hanyuu's regular outfit is a shrine maiden outfit with a red bow and light red sleeves that expose her shoulders. When activating her goddess powers, Hanyuu's pupils change into red. In stark contrast to how people viewed Oyashiro-sama, Hanyuu is a very nervous yet pessimistic girl. She has a tendency to mutter "au, au", especially when she's happy, sad or nervous. Hanyuu's school attire is a light blue vest and white shirt with a red skirt. Her casual outfit consists of a pink dress. She often takes the blame for other people's problems and apologizes repeatedly to them. Hanyuu frequently tells Rika not to get her hopes up in the many worlds they go to, as things can and have gone wrong at a moment's notice. Hanyuu dislikes the way she was worshiped as Oyashiro-sama and how villagers performed countless sacrifices in her name, with Hanyuu unable to speak to anyone and tell them how she felt. She sometimes throws tantrums due to this. In the past, Hanyuu used to be much more dignified and mature sounding, especially when it came time to sacrifice herself. Hanyuu will sometimes act in her role as Oyashiro-sama. Hanyuu has proven to be manipulative, using her cute looks to persuade someone. Hanyuu's past is unclear due to there being conflicting information in several ancient forbidden documents contained in the Furude Shrine that only the head of the Furude family can access. Hanyuu and her people came to Onigafuchi, the village that would become Hinamizawa, long ago in search of a new home. They wanted to live in the swamp, however there was a village of humans living nearby. Hanyuu's people respected that there were people already inhabiting this land and tried their best to coexist with the villagers however they were rejected, causing a disaster. Hanyuu took a human form and tried to mediate with the humans but was unable to hide her horns. The head priest of the Furude Shrine refused to let Hanyuu's people coexist with them for fear that the villagers would become demons if their blood mixed, but he changed his mind after the heir to the shrine fell in love with Hanyuu and produced a child with her. The humans' and demons' blood mixed, and the villagers soon became unable to tell who was a demon and who wasn't, becoming suspicious and paranoid of one another. This is believed to be the origin of Hinamizawa Syndrome, as people are rarely able to sense and hear Hanyuu in her incorporeal form, but those at the L4 stage and above will sense Hanyuu's presence more often. In order to make peace between the villagers, Hanyuu offered to take all of their sins upon herself and pretended to be a demon living in the swamp that was sowing unrest in humans' hearts. Hanyuu was soon captured by the villagers, sacrificed, and thrown back into the swamp in what would be the very first Watanagashi Festival. It was Hanyuu's own daughter Ouka who sacrificed her using the Onigari-no-ryuuou, with Hanyuu's horn becoming cracked as a result. Hanyuu would become revered as Oyashiro-sama, with the villagers of Onigafuchi unaware that they killed their god. After her death, Hanyuu remained in an incorporeal form and watched over the denizens of Onigafuchi, later Hinamizawa for years, unable to interact with another human. Finally, after a thousand years, Rika was born as the firstborn daughter of the eighth generation of the Furude family. As "Oyashiro-sama's reincarnation", Rika became the first person Hanyuu was able to interact with after hundreds of years. Hanyuu acted as a mother figure to Rika and taught her how to cook, along with other skills. Every time Rika dies, Hanyuu travels with her to a new Fragment in the hopes of averting fate and earning a happy ending, however Rika is unable to remember much from previous worlds. As time went on, Hanyuu's powers diminished, and by the current point of the story she can only send Rika two weeks before her death. She has the ability to travel to the Sea of Fragments and can give humans the power of time looping, allowing them to travel between Fragments. However, they cannot fully retain their memories from the fragments, being unable to remember their death. Hanyuu spends most of her time in incorporeal form and follows Rika everywhere, though she will sometimes go out to observe other people. Rika and Hanyuu's senses are linked, meaning any pain or taste Rika feels will also be felt by Hanyuu. Hanyuu also can switch between human form and incorporeal form at will. It is suggested that Hanyuu can cure people's Hinamizawa Syndrome, though this has a temporary effect if the patient is not living in Hinamizawa. Rena seems to be one of the few people besides Rika who is aware of Hanyuu's existence due to her many spiritual encounters with Oyashiro-sama in the past. It is implied that Hanyuu saved Rena from attempting suicide after her parents' divorce.

Miyo Takano is a nurse working for the Irie Clinic who is researching the past of Hinamizawa and their god Oyashiro-sama. Takano has blonde hair. She wears a green jacket adorned with a green ribbon with a yellow four-leaf clover over a pink shirt and black pants. At other times she wears a white nurse's outfit. Her military outfit is entirely black with a black beret. The same green ribbon is adorned on it. Takano has a mysterious aura about her and loves to talk about Hinamizawa's legends. She is especially interested in the grotesque stories surrounding Hinamizawa's past. Takano regularly meets Satoko. She's one of the few adults who regularly speaks to Satoko and shares a love of stuffed animals. Takano came to Hinamizawa and became a nurse at Irie's clinic. At some point she started researching Hinamizawa's past and writing down all of her findings and theories in scrapbooks. After her experiences in the orphanage, she gained determination to do her best and started to challenge God, believing him to be unfair at times. After being taken in by Dr. Takano, Miyoko became engrossed with Hinamizawa Syndrome research and inherited the doctor's will to be akin to God, wanting her research to be known by the world. As Miyo Takano, she seems to enjoy dissecting Hinamizawa Syndrome patients. She doesn't mind using terminal patients as guinea pigs and ending their lives prematurely since they're going to die anyway. Takano is very mocking of Oyashiro-sama due to the belief that his religion is no more than something brought about by parasites. Miyoko was born to the Tanashi family, a fairly nondescript family. Miyoko's favorite pastime was going to the mall and would always ensure her parents would take her there if they were going out. One day, she went to a friend's house and came back to find her parents had gone out without her, later discovering that they got into a serious train accident. Her mother died in the accident and her father Takemitsu Tanashi survived, but he was missing a hand and didn't have long to live. Before he died, Takemitsu told a heartbroken Miyoko to call his former teacher Dr. Hifumi Takano. Miyoko had no other relatives and was sent to an orphanage where she suffered from poor conditions and terrible punishments from the staff there. Not wanting to stay there any longer, she and some friends attempted to escape on a rainy night but only Miyoko managed to elude the staff's clutches. She came across a telephone booth and miraculously found a coin on the ground, enough for one phone call; Miyoko considered this act to be God challenging her. After remembering Dr. Takano's phone number from what her dad told her, Miyoko called him for help and was adopted by him soon after. She went to live with Dr. Takano at his study and became good friends with his friend Koizumi, a member of the Japanese army. Miyoko became very interested in the doctor's research, especially his research into the parasitic virus Hinamizawa Syndrome and his theory about the queen carrier: a member of the Furude family whose existence was crucial to keeping the virus under control within Hinamizawa. If the queen carrier died then every villager would suffer terminal symptoms of the syndrome within 48 hours and cause chaos. Dr. Takano always hoped for people to talk about his research for years on end and immortalize him as a god, and Miyoko started to feel the same way. She changed her name to Miyo Takano in honor of him. Dr. Takano needed funding to fully pursue research into the syndrome and presented his current findings to politicians of the SDF, but they rejected him and his queen carrier theory because it sounded like nonsense. Seeing how devastated her grandfather was, the young Takano aimed to prove his research to the world. In school she began research into parasites and became a model student, growing up and later graduating from college. In the meantime Dr. Takano continued to do research as best he could but contracted dementia and attempted suicide by jumping from his hospital roof. He was placed on life support, with Miyo implied to have ended his life by pulling him off of it. Koizumi approached Takano, regretful that he couldn't properly support the doctor when he was still alive, and helped her become a part of the organization Tokyo, granting her the facilities and funding she needed to pursue Hinamizawa Syndrome research. Koizumi also revealed to her that the reason the doctor's research was denied was because Hinamizawa Syndrome was the likely cause for the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, and it would cause foreign relations problems if this knowledge was made public. Miyo changed her surname to hide her relation with Hifumi. Despite how similar Takano's name was to Dr. Takano's most people never suspected they were related and assumed their similar names were a coincidence, or that she changed her name in respect of him. Takano made several allies because of Tokyo: Kyousuke Irie, a young and talented neurosurgeon who took an interest in the syndrome and signed on to try and find a treatment. They had the Irie Clinic built in Hinamizawa, giving them a base of operations. While Takano was the true leader of the clinic, she instead opted to become nurse while Irie was Director and proprietor of the clinic, as their syndrome research was top-secret. Jirou Tomitake would act as an auditor for them; he communicated between the clinic and Tokyo with orders and requests. Takano would later form a romantic relationship with him. Tetsurou Okonogi and the Mountain Dogs were assigned to the clinic as a secret counterintelligence force: they kept the existence of the syndrome secret and captured terminal patients if they were ever found. Takano also formed an uneasy relationship with the Furude family and their daughter Rika, as she was the current queen carrier and researching her would be important to finding a cure for the syndrome. Tetsurou Okonogi and the Mountain Dogs were assigned to the clinic as a secret counterintelligence force: they kept the existence of the syndrome secret and captured terminal patients if they were ever found. Takano also formed an uneasy relationship with the Furude family and their daughter Rika, as she was the current queen carrier and researching her would be important to finding a cure for the syndrome. The clinic made great strides in their research when Takano found and captured a terminal patient of Hinamizawa Syndrome: a construction worker who alongside other workers ganged up on their boss and killed him, then hacked him to pieces. Because of the dam project going on at the time, the villagers began calling the strange death and disappearance punishment from their god Oyashiro-sama. Three years ago, Satoko Houjou became a terminal patient of the syndrome and killed her parents by pushing them off of a cliff. She was examined by the clinic and found to be a terminal patient, and as the Mountain Dogs covered up the deaths of the parents, Takano made preparations to dissect Satoko like they did with the construction worker. However, Irie instead developed the medicine C103 and successfully brought Satoko to the L3 stage, avoiding the need for dissecting and killing her while still collecting data for the syndrome due to Satoko constantly taking the medicine every day. In the meantime, Takano developed the reagent H170, meant to induce terminal symptoms in Hinamizawa Syndrome patients. Two years ago, the Furude family suddenly decided they didn't want to cooperate with the clinic anymore, as they were getting suspicious. Takano was at a loss for what to do as they still had so much more to learn from the queen carrier. At that point the villagers believed that Oyashiro-sama's curse was real, having blamed it for the deaths and disappearances. Takano realized that she could dispose of the Furude family and pass it off as the third year of the curse. She ordered the Mountain Dogs to take care of it, and as a result Mr. Furude was poisoned and killed, his death assumed by the villagers to be from illness while Mrs. Furude was captured in the clinic, her disappearance passed off as a suicide from drowning in Onigafuchi Swamp. Takano took pleasure in dissecting Mrs. Furude, the previous queen carrier. Koizumi has known Takano ever since she was a little girl. Koizumi personally gives Takano funding for Hinamizawa Syndrome research and other things, wanting to support her until the day he dies. This year, Koizumi dies. As a result, the Alphabet Project board has new anti-Koizumi members replacing many older members, and they had no interest in developing Hinamizawa Syndrome for warfare. They gave the Irie Clinic reduced funding and a time limit of three years to find a cure to the syndrome. Takano became depressed, feeling like she wouldn't be able to complete her grandfather's research in time and earn the recognition he deserved. A member from Tokyo, Nomura, then approached her and promised that if Takano could prove her queen carrier theory as legitimate then the government would have to take the syndrome seriously and give her funding. Takano becomes encouraged to carry out a massacre of Hinamizawa's villagers and begins preparing for this act.

Side characters:

Kyousuke Irie is a doctor who works in Hinamizawa at the Irie Clinic and also manages the Hinamizawa Fighters baseball team. Irie has short hair and wears glasses with black rims. He frequently wears a lab coat over a black shirt and yellow tie, and his casual wear consists of a yellow shirt. Irie is generally very kind and easy-going who will put massive amounts of effort into helping people as a doctor but he can be slightly aloof sometimes and has an obsession with maids making slightly inappropriate but playful jokes revolving around them just to entertain everyone. When it comes to helping others, he acts very serious and firm willing to lend a ear to everyone. Irie runs the Irie Clinic in Hinamizawa. He also manages the Hinamizawa Fighters baseball team, recruiting Satoshi Houjou year ago in an attempt to alleviate the stress from his home situation. As the only doctor in the village, Irie is often called for checkups in house calls and at the school. Irie is a member of the secret organization Tokyo, having been recruited because of his knowledge in neuroscience. Irie was inspired to become a doctor and study the brain when his father's mental state deteriorated and he became very violent at times, causing Irie's mother to leave him. Irie was convinced that his father's fluctuating behavior had to do with a brain disorder, a concept not well understood, and devoted his time to studying. When Irie joined Tokyo, the Irie Institute was established in Hinamizawa where he and Takano worked together on researching Hinamizawa Syndrome, having experimented on various people that were kidnapped under the guise of Oyashiro-sama's curse. They had to dissect the people they captured, and when Satoko came down with terminal symptoms, Irie opted to try an experimental cure on her instead of dissecting her, successfully bringing her symptoms down. Satoko has regular checkups at the clinic, believing she is assisting with simple research, and is paid for it. year ago, when Satoshi killed his aunt on the night of the Watanagashi Festival, Irie discovered he had terminal symptoms a few days later and brought him to the clinic. Satoshi has remained in the clinic's basement since then, his disappearance believed to be a result of the curse. Irie has been trying to cure him as well, his findings contributing even more to Satoko's own cure. Satoko is a frequent patient at Irie's clinic, and Irie sometimes jokes about making her wear maid outfits. Despite this, Irie genuinely cares for Satoko and wants to adopt her since she lives alone with Rika, however he is unable to due to being single; since, kids can only be adopted by a couple. Irie recruited Satoshi onto the Hinamizawa Fighters baseball team in to help alleviate his stress from his family situation. Satoshi frequently confided in Irie about his problems, and though Irie encouraged him to do his best, the boy quit the team and got part-time jobs after a while.

Satoshi Houjou is Satoko Houjou's older brother, who had gone missing on the fourth year of Oyashiro-sama's curse. Satoshi has blond hair and usually red-violet eyes. He is one year older and slightly taller than Keiichi. For his school uniform he worn a white collared shirt with a light blue shirt underneath, a brown belt and black uniform pants. Satoshi is very quiet, often just going along with things. He likes to give people headpats, especially Satoko and Shion. When it comes to protecting Satoko, he gets very defensive and assertive. Satoshi is not very good at expressing his feelings due to having to mature over a short period of time because of his mother's constant remarriages. Satoshi and Satoko's mother was always getting married and remarried, with their surname of Houjou coming from their fourth father. Satoko had a bad relationship with her stepfathers, and Satoshi was always stepping in to protect her. During the dam war the Houjou family faced ostracization from the villagers because of their parents supporting the dam project. Satoshi and Satoko became orphaned when their parents died on the second year of Oyashiro-sama's curse. The siblings were taken to live with their aunt Tamae and uncle Teppei, who were very abusive. They were beaten, verbally assaulted, and sometimes starved, and Satoshi did his best to shield Satoko from the abuse. Though Satoshi's friends called the child consultation center to do something about the Houjou situation, it didn't work since the social workers found no real evidence abuse was occurring. Satoshi himself became ill because of Teppei's abuse. Satoshi joined the Hinamizawa Fighters baseball team run by Irie to relieve some tension, however he eventually quit and started many part-time jobs with Mion's help to buy Satoko a teddy bear for her birthday. Year ago, Satoshi's aunt was found murdered on the night of the Watanagashi Festival while Satoshi mysteriously disappeared a few days later, marking the fourth year of Oyashiro-sama's curse. Satoko did her best to become a strong girl in Satoshi's absence, with many of Satoshi's friends claiming he "transferred" to preserve Satoko's feelings. Satoshi developed terminal symptoms of Hinamizawa Syndrome due to his aunt's abuse and murdered her with a baseball bat on the night of the festival, year ago. A few days later, he went to Okinomiya to buy Satoko the teddy bear and was picked up by Irie, who noticed he had terminal symptoms. Satoshi hallucinated seeing nearby people as his aunt, and Irie took him to the Irie Clinic for treatment; Satoshi's disappearance was assumed to be the fourth year of the curse. As of now, Satoshi has remained in the clinic's basement in a comatose state as Irie searches for a cure. Satoshi remains unconscious and it is thought, that he awakens, he'll do something crazy, since he is on LV5, last stage of syndrome. Research performed on Satoshi progressed towards a cure for Hinamizawa Syndrome; Satoshi has indirectly helped Satoko get medication and treatment for her own Hinamizawa Syndrome symptoms. Satoko depended on Satoshi for a long time. Satoshi was said to be unreliable, and Satoko nagged him a lot. Satoshi cares about Satoko a lot and even sacrifices his free time to help her. Satoshi's disappearance encourages Satoko to become a stronger person, however she goes about this the wrong way and thinks that withstanding problems is what will improve things. Shion loved Satoshi and devoted a lot of her time to helping him through teaching him how to shop effectively and supporting him in his baseball games.

Kuraudo Ooishi is a detective from the Okinomiya police department who is investigating Oyashiro-sama's Curse and aims to solve the deaths related to it before he retires. Ooishi is a rotund middle-aged man with gray hair. He wears a black shirt with yellow pants, a red tie and red suspenders. He carries a jacket with him everywhere he goes but never seems to wear it. Ooishi has pride and duty in his job as a police officer, wanting to do all he can to solve the curse of Oyashiro-sama before it's too late. His determination leads him to overstep his boundaries at times where he gets rough with people he interviews. Ooishi has a habit of chuckling where he says "Nfufufu". Ooishi's father died in World War II during an air raid. After the war ended, the young Ooishi worked as a policeman and was responsible for arresting people trying to buy rice illegally. While chasing after a culprit one night, Ooishi was hit by another, older man that resembled Ooishi's father so much that he stopped running. Ooishi and the old man would then develop a close relationship, with Ooishi seeing him as a secondary father. The old man eventually became the manager for the Hinamizawa Dam Project. Ooishi was involved in rescuing the Minister of Construction's grandson, five years ago, alongside Mamoru Akasaka, believing the Sonozaki family had a hand in it. Four years ago, when the dam manager was killed and dismembered on the night of Watanagashi, Ooishi became determined to solve his murder and avenge his death, becoming known by the villagers as "Oyashiro-sama's messenger" due to him interviewing curse victims shortly before they died or disappeared. With Ooishi's mother growing old, Ooishi plans to retire and take care of her, but not before doing one last round of investigation. Keiichi and Ooishi are allies, seemingly due to Keiichi being an outsider and therefore outside the loop of the mysterious incidents that occur in Hinamizawa annually. Mion and Ooishi have an uneasy relationship due to Ooishi suspecting the Sonozakis of being behind every incident in the village. Mion and Ooishi will rarely cooperate when it benefits them. Although Akane and Ooishi rarely interact, Ooishi is not very fond of her due to longstanding hatred of the Sonozakis because of the dam war.

Mamoru Akasaka is a police officer who comes to Hinamizawa, five years ago to investigate the kidnapping of a government official's son. Akasaka has black hair and red eyes. He wears a suit and tie for work while his causal wear consists of a yellow jacket over a blue shirt and jeans. A kind individual, Akasaka is very devoted to his wife Yukie and regrets having to leave her for work. He is also responsible, believing it important for people to do their political duty in voting. Akasaka subconsciously has a desire to be yelled at and does things that annoy people, especially if it's Yukie. Later, Akasaka develops a serious and fearsome side to him as a result of his karate training. He becomes a staunch opponent against evil and injustice that is reflected in his actions. When he was younger, Akasaka had experience playing at mahjong parlors and became very good at the game before getting banned at a few places for raising the stakes so much. Akasaka says he quit the game because Yukie got mad at him and because he was unlucky. He eventually became a police officer. He starts training in karate, too.

Jirou Tomitake is a photographer from Tokyo who comes to Hinamizawa a couple of times a year. Tomitake has short brown hair, red eyes, and glasses. He wears a brown cap, a green sleeveless shirt with a pair of dog tags, and green pants with green bags around his waist. Tomitake is always carrying a yellow camera. Tomitake wears a green military uniform during meetings. Tomitake is calm and easygoing. He supports Takano's hobbies but is still creeped out by them and worries about her doing something weird. Tomitake's photography is just a hobby. Mion will sometimes tease him, asking when he's planning on going pro. Tomitake mostly specializes on taking pictures of scenery and wild birds, and he hopes to be able to take pictures of Hinamizawa from every season. During one of his trips to Hinamizawa, Tomitake met Takano, and he began giving her photography lessons, though her obsession with Oyashiro-sama and occultism still scares him a bit. Tomitake served as a sniper in the army. After he suffered from an eye injury, he was moved to the position of sniping instructor. He holds the rank of First Lieutenant in the JSDF. Tomitake is an auditor for the secret organization Tokyo and acts as a liaison between them and the Irie Clinic for Hinamizawa Syndrome research. Tomitake visits Hinamizawa several times a year to check on their progress and to relay status updates.

Tatsuyoshi Kasai is a bodyguard who works for the Sonozaki Family and is frequently seen with Shion. Kasai has brown hair, a goatee, and always wears a pair of sunglasses. He wears a black suit, white shirt and a red checkered tie. Kasai has a very threatening aura and appearance, but he is actually very nice and soft-spoken. He likes to eat desserts and seems embarrassed to request them at times. Rarely, Kasai will show a frightening attitude when in action. Kasai is a high-ranking member of the Sonozaki family's yakuza group. He retired after getting badly injured in a fight, though he still works as a consultant for Mion and Shion's father. It's suggested that Kasai was in a love triangle with Akane and the twins' father in the past, and though he lost in the end, Kasai still stuck around as their dad's friend. During the dam war Kasai went to get sniper training. Kasai helped Shion escape from St. Lucia Academy and set up living arrangements for her in Okinomiya. Though Shion's escape and Kasai's involvement weren't unnoticed by the Sonozaki family, they allowed it so long as Shion kept a low-profile. Shion however revealed herself publicly as Mion's twin and Kasai was detained by the Sonozakis, being set free after Shion removed some of her fingernails as punishment. At some point Kasai provided Shion with an illegally-modified stun gun. Kasai has acted as a guardian for Shion sometimes ever since she was a child and serves her as a chauffeur and bodyguard. He provides her with a stun gun. Kasai's told her many horror stories about canned food having human flesh in them, leading to Shion developing a strong hatred for it. When Shion escapes from St. Lucia, Kasai helps her hide out and gets food for her. Even after Shion's punishment, Kasai continues to act as her guardian and gives her advice at times.

The Mountain Dogs, also called the Yamainu and Wild Dogs, are a secret military and counterintelligence unit allied with the Irie Clinic that assist in keeping Hinamizawa Syndrome's existence secret and capturing terminal patients whenever they are discovered. The Mountain Dogs were formed by the organization Tokyo as part of the Self-Defense Force, following the trend of governments worldwide investing into secret military taskforces. To make espionage and surveying the village easier, the Mountain Dogs have some members embedded in the police and have bugs in various houses and establishments, including the queen carrier Rika's house. The Mountain Dogs also have a front company set up called Okonogi Gardeners that serves as their main base. They regularly do actual gardening so as not to arouse suspicion when they appear throughout the village. Their main goal is to ensure research of Hinamizawa Syndrome progresses smoothly and that its existence is kept secret from outsiders at all costs, resorting to kidnappings and assassination if need be. They were especially active during the dam conflict and were responsible for kidnapping the Minister of Construction's grandson in a plan by Tokyo to shut down the dam project. The Mountain Dogs' other goals are to capture terminal patients of Hinamizawa Syndrome when they are discovered before they can cause problems and risk revealing the existence of the disease. One of their first captures was of the culprit behind the dam construction foreman's murder, who was discovered to have terminal symptoms by Miyo Takano and was soon brought in. The next year, the Dogs were deployed by Kyousuke Irie to dispose of the body of Satoko Houjou's mother, who along with her husband was killed when Satoko pushed them off of an observation deck. The incident was made out to be an accident and threw off police investigation. Because of the similarity to last year's incident with a death and disappearance, the phenomenon known as Oyashiro-sama's curse propagated in the village. The Mountain Dogs used the curse to their advantage the following year, where they disposed of Rika's parents by the order of Takano. The cover-up of the fourth year curse victims were also implied to be the Dogs doing, done by request of Irie to protect Satoshi. The Mountain Dogs' members are split into four groups with approximately 23 members each, judging by their codenames:Skylark; Nightingale; Phoenix; Heron. Each group has a single leader with the number 1 suffix. Tetsurou Okonogi serves as the commander for the Phoenix group as Phoenix 1 and also commands the Mountain Dogs as a whole. Okonogi and the rest of the Dogs in turn answer to Major Miyo Takano, who sometimes commands them on behalf of Irie when the latter needs it.

Akane Sonozaki is Mion and Shion's mother. She was originally going to be the next head of the Sonozaki family but due to complications that role went to Mion instead. Akane has green eyes and green hair tied back and wears a black kimono. She wears purple earrings. Akane is very kind and sympathetic to people most of the time. Her kindness is such that every year she gives personally-grown flowers and gifts to the grave of Ooishi's friend the dam construction manager, regretting that they couldn't make up for the dam conflict. Akane hates liars. She acts serious when it comes to Sonozaki family business. Akane was meant to succeed the Sonozaki family as its next head after her mother Oryou Sonozaki. Because she was disowned, it may seem as though Akane and her mother have a difficult relationship but they are actually very close. Oryou had some fingernails removed at the same time Akane did, and they meet up for tea sometimes. Oryou isn't able to treat Akane normally because she has to keep up appearances. Although Akane and Ooishi rarely interact, Ooishi is not very fond of her due to longstanding hatred of the Sonozakis because of the dam war.

Oryou Sonozaki is the head of the Sonozaki Family and the Three Families. She is the mother of Akane Sonozaki and grandmother of Mion Sonozaki and Shion Sonozaki. She is an elderly lady who wears a black kimono. Oryou rarely goes out in public due to her age and may seem nice, but when it comes to the Houjou family she becomes very angry and vulgar with her hatred of them. Oryou's threatening aura is such that any opinion she shows or suggestion she makes is carried out by her subordinates no matter what. Oryou is actually very considerate of others, making ohagi every year and sending it to the grave of the dam construction foreman. She really does care about Satoko's well-being, but is unable to show direct support for her because she must keep up appearances and her reputation as the leader of the Three Families. Oryou also does care for her daughter Akane despite her disowning and has tea with her sometimes. Oryou is the current head of the Sonozaki family, which alongside the Kimiyoshi and Furude families have ruled Hinamizawa as the Three Families. After World War II, Oryou and her husband Souhei revived Hinamizawa using a massive fortune Souhei obtained from selling food supplies on the black market. The reconstruction helped give the Sonozakis much power and influence among the villagers, however when it was revealed that the food supplies contained human flesh, Hinamizawans started to become ostracized due to the belief they were cannibals like in the old times. Oryou brought peace to Hinamizawa by promoting a sense of unity and encouraging villagers to band together if anyone opposed them. The Sonozakis were once seen as the weakest link of the Three Families, but during the dam war, the Sonozakis overcame the Kimiyoshis and Furudes in power by discreetly committing sabotage operations against construction workers. The Sonozakis also claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the Minister of Construction's grandson to stop the dam project. With this, Oryou became known as a fearsome old woman, effectively making her the true leader of the Three Families and of Hinamizawa itself. When Shion returned to Hinamizawa and made herself publicly known to defend Satoshi Houjou, Oryou ordered that she tear off three of her fingernails as punishment and allowed her to remain in the village afterwards. The Sonozaki family's involvement in Oyashiro-sama's curse and the kidnapping is a lie. Oryou implies that the Sonozakis are behind everything to make them seem more powerful and influential than they already are.

Teppei Houjou is Satoko Houjou's abusive uncle who had abandoned Hinamizawa after the fourth year of Oyashiro-sama's curse. Teppei has blonde hair and wears a red Hawaiian shirt. He's always seen with a cigarette in his mouth. A tiger tattoo is said to be on his back. Teppei is very vulgar, greedy and abusive. He hangs out with thug friends a lot and gambles and drinks all day, often will be using Satoko as an errand girl with no regards for her wellbeing. He is prone to verbal and physical abuse, but he is smart enough not to let any visible bruises show on his victims. Teppei is also depraved, at one point he could consider that Satoko could satisfy him sexually if she were older. After Satoko and Satoshi's parents died in 1980, Mr. Houjou's brother Teppei and his wife Tamae became their legal guardians. The Houjou family was treated poorly by the villagers because their parents supported the dam project, and Teppei was no exception. Teppei abused Satoko and Satoshi a lot by hitting them and taking away meals, and he was also constantly fighting with his wife since they were on bad terms. Though Satoko's friends tried to help her by placing a call to child protective services, the center believed nothing was wrong after some investigation; there was no evidence the kids were being abused since Teppei never left any bruises on them, nor was there any recordings or eyewitness reports. By Japanese law, the situation also couldn't be called abuse unless someone admitted to it. On the fourth year of Oyashiro-sama's curse in 1982, Tamae was murdered while Satoshi disappeared. Fearing for his life, Teppei fled to Okinomiya to live with his lover Rina Mamiya. The two of them would start making money through gambling and badger games. Teppei would make his first appearance, when he would returns to Hinamizawa and will become Satoko's legal guardian again. Mion would tell he had a falling out with his lover and came back to the village, running into Satoko on the way back to his house and forcing her to come live with him. Teppei would abuse Satoko by hitting her, making her do housework and running errands for him. The club will try to rescue her by informing Chie and later child protective services, however Teppei and Satoko would deny that any abuse is happening, the latter one will do it, because she would think if she would accept help, she won't prove to her brother, that she can handle herself. At one point, Satoko would have a breakdown at school because of Teppei's punishments.

Rina Mamiya is a hostess who's dating Rena Ryuugu's father. Rina has pink hair and red eyes. She wears a yellow top and has a red star tattooed near the front of her hip. She also wears pink jeans. Rina has long fingernails. At first, Rina would seem like a nice woman if a little abrasive at times and is always wearing a strong perfume. In reality, she will be very crass and intimidating. She is always looking for men who might have deep pockets and manipulates them into spending it on her and swindling as much of it as she can. Because Rina relies on intimidation so much, she doesn't seem to have any backup plans for when it fails. Rina was a hostess at the club Blue Mermaid and was dating Teppei Houjou, joining him in loan sharking and badger games where Rina dates other men and has Teppei accuse them of stealing his girl and then blackmailing them for money. After seeing how much Rena's dad had to spend, Rina started dating him in an attempt to claim another badger game victim. Teppei and Rina became lovers sometime after the death of the former's wife in the fourth year of Oyashiro-sama's curse and moved in together at an apartment in Okinomiya. The two make money through gambling and badger games/marriage fraud scams. Although they make gross public displays of affection, they yell vulgarities at each other a lot. Rina is also not entirely faithful to Teppei and won't hesitate to abandon him if she ever finds someone better, something she's even said in front of his face. With time, Rina will be spending the night at their home more and more often and would start leaving her belongings there. Eventually their entire living room will be redecorated, with Rena starting to feel unwanted. At one point, Rena will go to a coffee shop later where she would overhear Rina talking with Teppei to two other men and collecting loan money from them. She also will overhear Rina's plans to swindle her father by pretending to need money to get rid of her ex-boyfriend. Rina will leave the store to cash a check, unaware that Rena would listening to her.

Rumiko Chie is a teacher who works at the Hinamizawa Branch School. Chie has blue hair and wears a white dress. She has blue eyes. Chie loves teaching and will do whatever it takes to ensure her students are safe. She also loves curry and will not tolerate disrespect for it, sometimes resolting to violence to whoever blackmouthes it. When Hinamizawa's old school closed down, a new school was created by the villagers during the dam war when they rented a building from the forestry service. Chie moved to Hinamizawa to teach there despite protests from the board of education. After the dam conflict, the Three Families convinced the government to recognize the school.

Kiichirou Kimiyoshi is the mayor of Hinamizawa and the leader of one of the Three Families. He is an old man with gray hair who wears a green shirt and khakis. Kiichirou appears as a kindly old man, but when it comes to official village business he can become very intense and cold. His rage was especially prevalent during the dam war. Despite this, Kiichirou is intimidated easily when alone and comes across as cowardly in this regard. Kiichirou is the head of the Kimiyoshi family, which alongside the Sonozaki and Furude families form the Three Families, a triumvirate that has governed Hinamizawa ever since its days as Onigafuchi Village.

The Club is a games club at the Hinamizawa Branch School led by Mion Sonozaki. Club members participate in various competitive activities, where the loser(s) has to undergo any penalty dictated beforehand or by the winner(s) without complaints. These penalty games may range from trivial requests such as shopping for someone else's groceries in their stead to downright embarrassing or horrifying demands; such as pulling a prank on the school staff members or sporting embarrassing outfits on the walk back home from school. The fear of receiving a terrible penalty game or the allure in bestowing one onto other members motivates them to become desperate to not lose or inspired to aim for victory. They often resort to all available means including underhanded tactics to turn the games in their favor. At times, the club bands together as a team to defeat a common enemy; combining their individual strengths and compensating for the others' weaknesses in order to win. However, even such a scenario may warrant a penalty for any member who didn't prove to be useful enough as a part of the team. The club usually partakes in indoor games but also don't shy away from outdoor activities. Any sort of situation, no matter how trivial or serious, can spark the urge to turn it into a club activity based on the whim of the members. The rules: 1. Aim only for first place! ...Going at it half-assed just because 'it's a game' is not allowed! 2. For that reason, you are obligated to make all possible efforts! 3. You must partake in the game, enjoying it without question! 4.You cannot refuse any penalty! The rules of the club permit and encourage the use of underhanded tactics in order to secure victory. Such tactics include but are not limited to: secret agreements, memorization of card markings, and preparation of resources beforehand. Cheating however should not be blatant, and a club member with solid evidence is allowed to call out another club member for cheating, which disqualifies the latter. Club members are required to be residents of Hinamizawa, although there are exceptions where temporary members may be recruited on a whim. Mion makes new members participate in one of the activities with the established members as an initiation ritual for the new member to prove themselves—where the odds stacked against the inexperienced candidate. Other people may also participate or be indirectly involved in the club activities, as is the case with many club activities that take place during school hours. They however may not officially participate or benefit from the penalty games that the club plays. The assistance and favors from non-club members is often used by the club members in order to turn the tide of the game in their favor. Clubroom is located right in their classroom and all board games, are in Mion's locker, which is basically stuffed with them. Durning lunch breaks between lessons, friends moved their desks together and dine together, taking food from each other's bento.

By the year of 1983⁠⁠, the Watanagashi had transformed into a splendid festival with the Furude Shrine becoming a sort of fairground, resembling that of a modern summer shrine matsuri. Even residents from Okinomiya and those of Hinamizawan heritage who lived at faraway places came all the way to attend the fesival and pay their respects to Oyashiro-sama. On the day of Watanagashi, many anticipated events and attractions are scheduled to take place. The following is a general outline of itinerary, but the nuances of how certain events take place may vary. Fireworks: At exactly 10 AM, on the morning of Watanagashi, there will be fireworks to announce to the locals that the festivities are to take place on that day; much like track and field days at schools. Bazaar Sale Exhibition/Auction: Perhaps due to the success of the raffle the year prior, a bazaar sale is organized in 1983, with villagers being encouraged to put their wareson sale during the festival—which comprise of anything from unconsumed food to clothing. Food and Entertainment Stalls: Summer matsuri-style yatai are set up throughout the shrine grounds, where villagers can have fun eating vendor-made food and playing carnival games commonly seen at summer matsuri. The club members often hold a competitive eating contest at the stalls, where they visit the food stalls and see who can eat the most. The club members also frequent visit the shooting gallery in many arcs to see who can win the most valuable prize. In Watanagashi, the club members hold a competition to see who can rope up the most customers at their respective stalls in the festival grounds by acting as sales assistants for food and entertainment stalls. Ceremonial Dance: The Ceremonial Dance is a ritual performed by the head caretaker of the shrine, dedicated to Oyashiro-sama. After the death of the Furude couple, this responsibility falls on Rika, as the final descendant of the Furude Family and Oyashiro-sama's miko. Before the Watanagashi festival begins, villagers donate used futons and such items of the like filled with cotton to the Furude Shrine. These are used in a ritual at the end of the festival. The head Furude priest or priestess performs a traditional dance accompanied by festival music, similar to a kagura, with a ceremonial agricultural hoe as a prop, and tears out the cotton from the collected futons as they sacrificially purify them. Cotton-Drifting: After the performance, the cotton is gathered up and passed out to attendants, who give a prayer of thanks to Oyashiro-sama and touch the cotton all over their bodies, absorbing the evil that possesses them. The cotton is finally set adrift in the stream adjacent to the shrine. All participants are to attend the ritual, which is the final and most important segment of the Watanagashi festival. Participants often head home after this, or join the after-party at the assembly hall at the shrine hosted by the Sonozaki Family to drink and dine with fellow villagers.

The Great Hinamizawa Disaster is an event where the entire population of Hinamizawa was killed overnight by volcanic gas. One night in June 1983, volcanic gas consisting of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide erupted from the Onigafuchi Swamp in Hinamizawa and killed every person living in the village. With this sudden catastrophe, over 600,000 people in nearby cities like Okinomiya were evacuated by local governments. The JSDF later discovered that the gas was produced by magma pools and hot springs under the swamp. Hinamizawa's legends believed that their god Oyashiro-sama would destroy the village with miasma erupting from Onigafuchi Swamp if he were angry, with scholars believing this to be inspired by similar gas disasters happening in the past. Before the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, villagers discovered that Rika Furude was murdered, her entrails strewn out in a manner that resembled the classic Watanagashi Festival. Because Rika was the last living member of the Furude family and was seen as Oyashiro-sama's reincarnation, survivors of the disaster believe that her sacrilegious death was what angered their god and caused the disaster in the first place. The entire Hinamizawa area became a prohibited zone after the disaster; people weren't allowed to visit the village, and planes were also not allowed to fly overhead. The swamp was filled in with concrete to prevent any more gas from leaking out. The lockdown was temporarily lifted after the gas density went down, but after another gas burst was reported it was closed off again. Hinamizawa wouldn't be reopened for good until 10 to 20 years after the incident. Many survivors of the disaster were hospitalized for sickness, some dying from unknown causes. There were others proclaiming they were possessed by Oyashiro-sama and committed suicide. There was a massive social impact where people became terrified of being killed overnight by poison gas and were afraid of even the slightest odd smell, resulting in insomnia, headaches and other problems. The media sensationalized the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, connecting it to the string of annual deaths and disappearances known as Oyashiro-sama's curse. People from Hinamizawa were even murdering their entire families before committing suicide, which TV shows and magazines heavily reported on. The widespread media influence resulted in Hinamizawans becoming treated as freaks, not helped by rumors that the villagers were descended from demons. In actuality the Great Hinamizawa Disaster is man-made. It is a cover-up for the enactment of Emergency Manual 34, a plan to exterminate the villagers to avoid a Hinamizawa Syndrome outbreak. The Irie Clinic has been secretly researching Hinamizawa Syndrome for years, a virus that every villager in Hinamizawa is infected with that makes people become incredibly violent when in the terminal stages. Rika is supposed to be the queen carrier for the virus, and her presence calms symptoms in the villagers and prevents them from going insane. It is thus believed that if she died, every single villager would enter terminal stages of Hinamizawa Syndrome within 48 hours and commit all sorts of atrocities after that time. The virus' existence is kept secret from the rest of the world, and an outbreak of symptoms with a population this size would be disastrous both to the world at large and to the Japanese Prime Minister's political plans, part of the reason that the manual is even considered in the first place. To that end, Emergency Manual 34 was devised by the clinic to exterminate the villagers should the queen carrier die in order to preserve the secret. Equipment such as gas canisters are secretly stored in Yagouchi Quarry and maintained regularly, as Rika could die at any time. Miyo Takano, one of the leading members of the Irie Clinic, is the true mastermind behind the Great Hinamizawa Disaster in every arc and chooses to bring it about to prove that her grandfather's research into Hinamizawa Syndrome and his queen carrier theory were legitimate. If she could successfully prove his research factual then it would be talked about for years, and she and her grandfather would be practically seen as gods. To that end, Takano will try to kidnap Rika by knocking her out and personally dissects and kill her, leaving her mutilated corpse out in the open for the rest of the villagers to discover. The death of the queen carrier is soon reported to the Prime Minister, and permission to enact the manual is given. In accordance with Emergency Manual 34, the Secrecy Preservation Unit affiliated with the clinic wakes up the villagers at night and rounds them up in disaster shelters and other buildings on the pretense that there is a gas leak and they are being evacuated. Windows, doors and other cracks are sealed up with duct tape to prevent gas from leaking in, with the unknowing villagers helping because of their strong sense of unity. Gas canisters are then deployed to kill everyone once they are assembled, with permission given to shoot fleeing villagers. Poisoned villagers' corpses are then gathered up in Branch School classroom, with shot villagers' corpses collected somewhere else. Once all the villagers have been disposed of, control of the operation is given to official disaster recovery organizations. A cover story is then put out that the villagers all died in a natural gas disaster.

The Emergency Manual is a series of guides written by the Alphabet Project and used by the Irie Clinic that detail how to deal with terminal patients of Hinamizawa Syndrome should they be encountered. One of these manuals, Emergency Manual 34, is a plan to wipe out the entire population of Hinamizawa and disguise it as a gas disaster should a large-scale outbreak occur. The Irie Clinic is researching Hinamizawa Syndrome in secret and takes the utmost steps to preserve its secrecy until it can be cured. Emergency Manual 1 outlines the steps towards recovering terminal patients of the syndrome when they are encountered, with a Secrecy Preservation Unit on call if the situation calls for it. Patients are even allowed to be shot and killed if necessary. Emergency Manual 34 was originally drafted by Hifumi Takano and expanded upon by Miyo Takano. It is by far the most important and most extensive manual, as it involves massacring the entire population of Hinamizawa and masquerading it as a natural disaster. The two main reasons to use Emergency Manual 34 are if: The true nature of the Irie Clinic becomes widespread information and cover-up proves to be difficult; An L5 outbreak of Hinamizawa Syndrome occurs. This second scenario can occur if a hazardous material were exposed to the public like the H170 series or if Rika Furude the queen carrier were to die. The latter is a much more likely event to happen. Rika's presence within the village has been proven to keep Hinamizawa's residents from developing terminal symptoms and making them go crazy. It is thus assumed that if she died then every villager would develop terminal symptoms within 48 hours and cause chaos. Thus, the manual is seen as a last resort to preserve secrecy. Only someone of official authority like the Prime Minister can sign off on the manual's application, however the Institute Director may petition it be used. The Institute Director in this case is Kyousuke Irie, but in his absence the chief officer will take his place, which would be Miyo Takano. All evidence related to Hinamizawa Syndrome research in the clinic must be collected by the Institute Concealment Unit. The concealment block must be quarantined and the underground area must be flooded, with the entrance to it welded shut. Any civilians who approach the clinic must be eliminated, with use of firearms forbidden except in emergencies. After three years, the concealment block will be removed. A Communication Sabotage Unit is sent to shut down communications into and out of Hinamizawa. The village must then be quarantined, with a special unit to disguise as police officers and round up the villagers on the pretense of there being a gas disaster occurring. Villagers will be gathered up in disaster shelters and counted to ensure that all villagers are present. Equipment such as gas canisters will then be deployed to execute the villagers, the equipment being stored at Yagouchi Quarry and regularly maintained. Should there be any villagers who try to run away or are otherwise uncooperative, the Secrecy Preservation Unit may open fire and kill them. Afterwards, the unit will search the village for any stragglers or people who were not present during the initial assembly process and terminate them. If any found survivors prove cooperative and surrender, then the unit must take them into custody and dispose of them like prior patients when the time is right. All of the poisoned corpses will be gathered up, and the ones with gunshot wounds will be collected somewhere else. Once every villager has been terminated and processed accordingly, control of the operation is handed off to official disaster relief groups. The story that the villagers died in a natural gas disaster will soon be disseminated.